Tigers crush Alabama State

Devin Booker had 13 points and seven rebounds as Clemson overwhelmed Alabama State with its size and half court defense Monday night, strolling to a 70-45 win.

Milton Jennings added 12 points off the bench for Clemson (6-4), which shot 50 percent for the second straight game, this time making 24 of 48.

“We had a nice offensive performance," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. "We shot 50 percent. We got 25 free throws, which is something we’ve been talking about. We had 12 offensive rebounds and 16 assisted baskets.

"So we had good stats, except for turnovers. We maybe attempted one or two threes that were a little quick, but in games like this, that’s probably to be expected.”

Kenderek Washington scored 10 points for Alabama State (2-8), which tried a 2/3 zone to try to compensate for using no one taller than 6-foot-6.

But the Hornets shot just 32.7 percent (17 of 52) against Clemson's man-to-man defense and committed 16 turnovers.

The Tigers went on a 9-0 run after the game was tied 3-3 after 4 minutes. Alabama State made just one of its first 14 field-goal tries and committed five turnovers in that span. Still, the Tigers' lead didn't reach double digits until two Booker free throws made it 29-19 with 4:15 remaining until halftime.

With the win, Clemson improves to 6-4 on the season.

The Tigers have a quick turnaround as they next head to Hawaii to play UTEP as part of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in three days.

"The competition will be good," Brownell said. "I know that UTEP has a young team, but Coach (Tim) Floyd is very good. So this will be a good tournament for our guys. We need to play well.”